Cargo aircraft commonly include cargo floors that have a number of incorporated rollers that facilitate the movement and manipulation of cargo loaded onto pallets. There may also be a number of power drive units (PDUs) mounted within the cargo floors. A conventional PDU includes an actuator-driven drive wheel that is sized to engage a bottom surface of a pallet when positioned on the rollers. When activated, the drive wheels of the PDUs rotate, moving the cargo pallets forward or rearward along the cargo floor over the rollers, which freely rotate.
When cargo and the associated pallets are wet due to rain or snow, the water falls onto the cargo floor. Cargo floors include drains for effective water removal, however, the water flowing to the floor drains often falls around the drive wheels into the drive wheel compartments of the PDUs. Water within the PDUs is undesirable since wet drive wheels may slip when engaging pallets, decreasing the efficiency of the pallet loading or unloading operation. To combat this issue, conventional PDUs include a drain that allows the water within the drive wheel compartments to be routed to a system of drain tubes connecting the PDUs to a holding tank from which the water may be removed or disposed of. This system of drain tubes adds significant weight and expense to the aircraft.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.